Since nobody commemorated it back on the 19th, I thought it'd be pertinent to point out that the Wii has been on the market now for 2 years.  Let's all think back and reminisce about the ups and downs the system has been through so far, shall we?  I'm sure there's lots of things people want to highlight, so I'll keep my contributions fairly brief.

Hitting the Ground Running: The Launch

The Wii launch was something else, all right.  There were high hopes everywhere, and it seemed like just about everybody wanted to get their hands on it.  The enthusiast gamers were clamoring for Twilight Princess, the newcomers were dying to try Wii Sports, and the technophiles really wanted to get that Wii Remote in pieces to figure out what makes it tick.

Cars and Karts: Mario Kart Wii vs. GTA4

I don't think I've ever seen a more overcharged week on VG Chartz than the week when GTA4 and Mario Kart Wii were scheduled to come out the same week in the US.  Bets were all over the place, and nobody expected the results: MK Wii managing to hold its own between the 360 and PS3 versions of GTA4, and quickly outpacing both in the weeks that followed.  The arguments that sprung up were pretty interesting too, if only because of how silly they usually were.

I Blame Wii Fit: The Hardcore Meltdown

Where to begin?  It isn't even possible to mention Wii Fit without having somebody get upset.  In the face of mass skepticism, the game caught everybody by surprise and became a long-legged top seller right up there with Nintendogs, Brain Age, and Wii Play.  No small feat for something that costs over a third of the price of the system you need to play it.

Feel free to add your own memories and recollections, too.  But please, if you just want to troll, go elsewhere.  Well, that's all from me for now!

Don't forget the whole Wii Music debacle. :P

It only seems like a few months ago that I got my Wii at launch, where has the time gone? Happy birthday you little white dude.

Pregame: Revolution

The then codenamed Nintendo Revolution offered one more huge secret. "Touching is good, but feeling is better" was a reply by President Iwata when asked what the controller would offer. The internet exploded with "revealed" controllers left and right, each one more ridiculous than the next. Then one day during TGS '05, Iwata revealed the true revolution.



Pregame: Evolution

One question remained though. What was under the hood of the Revolution? The PS3 blew away expectations with their Killzone 2 "gameplay" trailer at the previous E3, and the 360 was already out and about with it's impressive looking titles such as Perfect Dark Zero. So how could Nintendo ever dream of competing if the console couldn't keep up graphically? Well, early in 2006, Game Informer had an exclusive on Red Steel, the first game that would give us a glimpse of what the Revolution was packing. The images was analyzed and scrutinized, and in the end many deemed that the Wii wouldn't hold up to the technical prowess of the other consoles.



Pregame: Nintendo... Wii?

A month before E3 06, after months of speculation, Nintendo.com revealed that Codename Revolution was just that, the codename. The real name would be revealed to be... Wii. How was that pronounced? Way? Why? No... it would pronounced "We, as in, all encompassing". Then came the wee jokes. If it had to do with the bathroom, or even rhymed with the word, it was used. Not even the Nintendo sites were saved from the jokes. Sure, there were a few "Wii will Rock You!" bastions of hope, but all in all... it wasn't safe to be a Nintendo fan during that time.

Wii has been 2 years for a week now, what we really need is a wii cake.

Happy Birthday, anyone care to make similar posts when the NES, SNES Mega Drive, etc celebrates a birthday? I might.